MEDITERRANEAN ACTION PLAN

Annexe 2
Etudes de cas
Case studies
2.2 Municipality of Calvià - Balears - SPAIN
Geographical framework
Mallorca is placed in the South West of the Mediterranean. The Municipality of
Calvià is situated on the western coast of Mallorca. Calvià has a surface of 145 sq
km and 56 km of coast.
Attractivity factor
80% of the Municipality are natural areas. Its coastline of sandy beaches and cliffs
has an important environmental value.
As tourism municipality, Calvià is a privileged area in terms of facilities and
infrastructure, with sport resorts, 5 marines, maritime promenades, 4 golf courses
and leisure centres.
Main parties
Key parties are: hoteliers, trade unions, NGOs, tour-operators, the 3 levels of the
administration (national, autonomic, local).
A key factor of the local agenda has been to bring together the viewpoints of the
different sectors. Several channels of participation have been envisaged for this
purpose: the Forum of Citizens, Special Commissions, Polls and consultations for
the public.
The strategy of the Local Agenda 21 counts on the widest possible voluntary
support of the population.
Market structure
Numbers of tourists: 1 500 000/year (national: 200 000/year, international:
1 300 000/year).
Arrivals by plane: 98%
Tour-operators and travel agencies: 87%.
Touristic development retrospective
The tourist development of Calvià began with the first boom of international
tourism in Spain at the sixties. In the first two decades, the model of tourism
development has been based on short-term interests, unlimited buildings and
exploitation of natural resources.
At the end of the 80's, the demand is falling off and the quality is on decline. Calvià
grew from 3 000 to 30 000 inhabitants.
In the 80’, Calvià implements a policy of town planning designed to uphold new
tourist operations in the hope of modernising, improving and diversifying the local
tourist industry. At that time, the effect becomes evident: deterioration of
environment and landscape, gross overcrowding of the tourist zone, difficulties of
bringing the installations to upgrade, decline of the allure of the region, threat to
local development.
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